The publication calls its annual rankings “our answer to U.S News & World Report, which relies on crude and easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity and prestige to evaluate schools.”

Washington Monthly rates schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and doctoral graduates); and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

MSU’s #38 ranking among all universities, public and private, is the same as last year and outpaces all but four Big Ten schools (Purdue at #25, Wisconsin at #26, Illinois at #35 and Michigan at #37).

The top five universities are Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Texas A&M and Georgetown.

A USA Today story on the rankings notes that the top 20 is made up largely of public schools, and that schools that historically do well on other rankings don’t generally fare as well on Washington Monthly’s list.